Walking in Grace, Stepping Out in Faith

Die 14-Dying to Sex

Today I have the great privilege of introducing you to a guest post from That None May Boast (a great blog written by my best friend and husband). As the pastor of our church, he has been speaking the truth about the idols we have in our lives. He has just finished proclaiming the truth about the idol of sex and he has written for Faith Steps regarding how Jesus taught us how to die to sex. Enjoy today’s post.

It is fascinating how consumed by sex our world can become at times. But here is a crazy thought, Jesus was the author and creator of the incredible enjoyments of sex, yet He lived a celibate life and never experienced this part of His creation.

He went to weddings and funerals, He experienced hunger and feasting, He experienced temptation and Satan fleeing from Him. We have no account of Jesus even being tempted to have sex or to lust after a woman.

How was Jesus able to overcome one of the greatest stumbling blocks in following the Lord today? Christ’s body belonged to the Lord, not Himself. Because Christ gave His full body to God, He was able to live a fully satisfied life. Jesus did not use others to meet His needs. Instead, He trusted in the Lord completely to fulfill ALL of His needs. In so doing, God not only met Jesus’ need for oneness with His Father, but allowed Jesus to meet our greatest need through Christ’s death on the cross—our need for oneness with God.

“I pray not only for these,

but also for those who believe in Me through their message.

May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You.

May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me.

I have given them the glory You have given Me.

May they be one as We are one.

I am in them and You are in Me.

May they be made completely one,

So the world may know You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

John 17:20-23

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother

and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

Ephesians 5:31-33

Jesus did not need to experience sex to understand the mystery of the deep abiding intimacy found in oneness with the Father. Because He was without sin, he knew the true joy and eternally satisfying pleasure of oneness found in the Trinity relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It inspires us to find the true freedom to love God and others when we follow Christ’s example of dying to self that He might be fully satisfied by seeking oneness with His Father above all.